but all we've got is each other
by crimesurge
Summary: A compilation of the majority of my snkkink (mini)fills, which usually center around armin/mikasa and the shinganshina trio. The chapters don't correlate to each other specifically, but it's mostly in canonverse/very headcanon heavy/x-posted to ao3 under the same name/etc.
1. playdate

written like during last summer for a fill on snkkink. the request was "friendship" between mikasa and armin.

* * *

**Playdate**

Armin and Mikasa never quite got a moment just to the two of them, without Eren. Usually, the glue between the two was the other boy himself, inviting both of them to play together and whatnot.

But today, Eren had to go with his father into town for some sort of check up on a long time patient of Dr. Jaeger.

Mikasa would've gone along, of course, but Eren begged her to stay with Armin for the day since they had promised to go to Armin's house together. The girl only ever listens to her adoptive brother, so she complied without a thought.

"I'm sorry about the mess," the blonde boy says, moving a stack of books off of a chair.

"It's alright." She said, taking a seat in the chair.

Armin grabbed a book off of the wooden desk, "Um, I have a new book I really wanted to show you, Grandfather said it'd be a good read to anyone."

Mikasa nodded, reaching out to receive the book.

It was obvious that neither of them really knew how to converse without the presence of their mutual friend. They had known each other for two or three months now, since the incident and Mikasa's becoming an addition to the Jaegar household, but this was their first time together by themselves, and neither one of the two were very talkative people. They got along and were alright with each other's presence, Mikasa being strong and protective, and Armin, smart and friendly to Eren.

They sat face to face on opposite sides of the room, each with a book in hand. To some extent, they enjoyed each other's company, even without many words exchanged, the companionship was enough.

Hours and hours of silence, with the occasional chuckle from Armin or the quick flipping of pages from Mikasa, ended faster than either would expect.

"Thank you for having me over," Mikasa said at the doorstep. The sun was setting.

"No, thank you for coming over." He gave her a sheepish, crooked smile. Armin's smile was lovely, one of the brightest Mikasa had ever seen. She liked it.

They exchanged goodbyes and soon enough, the girl found her way back to the Jaegar household. Eren arrived home soon after and asked, "How was hanging out with Armin?" but when she replied, he laughed and said "boring".

To some, the day would have been uneventful and unexciting, but the two knew that slowly but surely their friendship had strengthened, just a bit.


	2. too natural

i asked for a similar prompt in the first kink meme but this idea just keeps coming back to me so i guess i'll try my hand at it. enjoy, sorry for my terrible writing style. _(for snkkink, written summer 2013, slightly edited as of now)_

* * *

**Too Natural**

"You know you could join in if you wanted, Eren," Mikasa said jokingly, snuggled close to Armin who chuckled.

"Hah, hah, very funny," said-boy muttered, looking intently at his best friends, who coincidentally became an actual couple. Eren never expected it, he always felt, no matter how oblivious he was, that both of them had some sort of feelings for him. He wasn't being conceited, at one point or another it was the truth.

Mikasa definitely harbored feelings for Eren for at least five years. They were seventeen now, and part of him wonders when those feelings ended. Not that he necessarily returned them, because he never did think of her more than his sister in the long run.

And as for Armin, it wasn't like Eren didn't think he was capable of getting a girlfriend or even a boyfriend, it just seemed like the boy didn't want it like most people their age did. Then again, they are part of the Survey Corps (Perhaps God doesn't even know why they've lasted this long).

But in the end, Eren kind of had to admit the two of them looked good together, and wondered why he didn't think of the pair as possibly an actual couple until, well, they _became_ a couple. Both intelligent, caring beings that seemed to fit together like puzzle pieces now that he looked at it. The people whom he cared the most about, his two best friends dating? Yeah. It's okay, now, at least.

Minutes of silence, that probably felt longer for Eren than it did for the couple, passed, and Eren eyed them closely. It's natural, almost too natural, he thought.

"You're being off, Eren. I said it was okay for you could join, didn't I?"

"I still find this weird as shit," he replied, thinking out loud.

"We know, Eren," Armin smirked. "We know."


	3. escalation

**Escalation**

Neither one of them ever purposely thought of each other romantically, of course, they thought of each other as equals, as best friends, each other's support system after all the harsh times.

So certainly, a little accidental bump of faces and a pair of lips touching during training wouldn't be that big a deal, would it? Mikasa and Armin have known each other for five years now, and are surprisingly more comfortable around one another than they let others, even Eren, on to believe.

But things turned out differently than that. They caught each other staring at the other, specifically at the lips, and awkwardly but very, _very_ obviously, they understood the situation.

So when they tried to kiss again, it was in the boy's bunk while they were all out at some gathering in town, when Armin feigned tiredness, and girls didn't go. It wasn't lust or some shallow thing, but pure curiosity and maybe just a small amount of enjoyment. Maybe it was romance now.

The two began the kiss at the same time, the tips of their noses touching lightly at first, but Armin gave her a smile and a little chuckle and her lips tugged upward, _this is kind of fun_, Mikasa had decided. Their lips met once again in this chaste, light way but before the peck was broken, it was as if they were in sync, probably from years of friendship, but it somehow continued.

Stranger yet was how comfortable they were; they were nervous, but at the same time very relaxed, and when one parts their lips to let the other in, it's so much more satisfying to know that the other is on the exact same level.

Mikasa was a little more domineering as a person, but Armin could tell that even humanity's strongest, Mikasa, the girl worth one hundred soldiers was a little shaky at kissing, but of course there's a first time for everything and Armin was the same way.

Once their lips separated, both could see the hazed look in each other's eyes. No words were exchanged since Mikasa first entered the boys' dormitory and it seemed like neither one had anything they needed to voice out loud. Breaths let out heavily and Mikasa finally muttered a "good night" to Armin and left the room.

It wasn't a fight, just hormones affecting the head, Mikasa thought. Armin sometimes glanced at her while they ate together and she would do the same when he wasn't look.

Next week, Armin called Mikasa out behind a shed and promptly grabbed her beloved scarf and pulled her in for their third kiss, and she could tell he had improved far too much for not even ten days' time by the way her knees were giving out.

She needed to catch up.


	4. hairstyle

another small fill. mikarmin with some shinganshina trio implications.

* * *

**Hairstyle**

Running his hands through his friend's now short, dark hair, Armin can't help but become a little bit upset at the fact that she cut it so easily. Not like he was unaware of the amount of loyalty she possesses for a sole person, and that sole person being their best friend. But he still thinks she did it too easily, cutting her hair straight off this scissors.

He fancied her long, coarse hair. Asian hair was like silk to his hands, and he loved when she relaxed in his hands as he played with her hair. The way whenever he or Eren left hickeys, they'd be easily hidden under black locks, and how her hair shined silvery in the sun.

Mikasa's eyes were closed and long lashes left even longer shadows on her cheeks. Armin wasn't usually more bold than he was subtle, but months after the three became in an established relationship, and even sooner when Eren was required to be kept under Survey Corps watch, he and Mikasa had nothing more than each other.

They kissed naturally and easily; he placed his lips on hers, and she calmly reciprocated. The kiss became deeper and by the end, they were out of breath and smiling big. They were still children.

It was the moments like this that made the pair connect more, and become intimate almost instantly.

He could go on about how her hair was and why it was a terrible idea that inches were taken off with close to no regret, but nonetheless, he still thinks Mikasa would look lovely in any hairstyle.


	5. contact

a bit of a longer fill. mikasa-centric.

* * *

**Contact**

Even since she was a child, Mikasa was never very social. Looking back on it, her mother and father did seem very protective of her, since she never had any real friends since they lived far away from town, but back then she was carefree, before everything happened. Sometimes, she considers the idea that it was for the better that they didn't let her get too attached, they probably had some idea of the danger of her being outside too often.

She wouldn't believe that that was that, but she's alright now. She's content with just being there for Eren and Armin.

Mikasa remembers when the first time that Carla and Grisha made Eren go get wood for fire, and that she said she wanted to go, also. It had only been hardly a month after her integration into the Jaeger household, but they reluctantly let her go with, and after bringing back a strangely large amount of lumber, both of Eren's parents, now her adoptive parents, praised her.

It wasn't like her parents never gave her affection; they gave her plenty, for which she was thankful. Mikasa didn't mean to, but she dropped all of the sticks of wood and broke down, ending up crying in Carla's lap on the sofa. She barely remembers the little tingling sensation from the woman's fingers trailing in her hair, telling her in whispers that everything is alright now, and that she has "a new family who will care for her now". She fell asleep instantly and comfortably.

Those times of family were true for the short time she had with the Jaegers, and after Eren's mother's death, she immediately missed the maternal comfort from her adoptive mother.

That was the first time Mikasa realized she liked that kind of comfort, the kind involving touching.

The next was when she had a migraine while they worked on the fields, and Armin offered to stroke her temple for her during a break. It was a first for the two of them, since Mikasa wasn't even very used to holding hands at that point. It felt good, especially when Eren took over and rubbed her forehead for her. She had cuddled up on him without noticing, pushing into the softness of fingers massaging her head.

For those next few weeks, she pretended to have headaches so they would rub her head for her and sometimes even pet her hair until it became habitual for the three to comfort each other in innocent, feely ways, even up to these years. She knew they definitely didn't mind though, through the way they reacted when she curled up with them and slumped next to them, they basted in her rare affections. So, they definitely didn't mind.

Other occasions that she remembered in particular that she related to pleasure through contact, was when out of nowhere Sasha gave her a hug and rubbed her back and nuzzled her head into the oriental girl's neck. It had Mikasa frozen in place but she didn't dislike it, if anything, she felt very happy.

Once Jean asked for a handshake after a training session and she obliged without little thought, but remembers the rough, calloused feel of his palms from one touch. It left her imagining that texture on that same hand she shook with for at least half a day.

More recently from a person she wasn't very used to was Corporal Levi, who gave her a pat on the head after a very successful mission, making her almost jump in her boots from the surprise of touch and affection. She definitely wasn't used to that, and didn't know if she wanted to or not. But she willingly accepted the warm feeling she had from the praise.

But even though it was nice to have some variation in her usual experiences, she still always went back to Eren and Armin. They knew exactly where to pet and caress her, where the very specific part on her scalp was that had her instantly relaxed was, paired with the right amount of scratching and pressure and practically everything to get to looking at them with eyes saying "more". She craved their touch to take her off the edge and de-stress at times, it felt too good, and whenever she saw them, she knew she had to suppress her eagerness or else they would find it too weird to stroke her hair, rub circles on her, pet her, or anything.

It wasn't ever quite a romantic thing, her need for touch. She was pretty sensitive to skin on skin contact for someone who is considered worth one hundred soldiers as a soldier. If anything, it was for enjoyment and she loved it.

Mikasa debated coaxing one of the two to rub her back for her, and she needed it since she hadn't seen either in so long. But that was for another day, she decided.


	6. my protector

another long one, prompt being "mikasa cares about armin too." shinganshina trio-centric.

* * *

**My Protector**

The first time Mikasa noticed Armin being harassed by older members of the Survey Corps, she promptly exchanged fists with them, easily proving herself once again as one of humanity's strongest by the way she knocked them down in record time. It had been so long since anyone decided to mess with him, and her, she felt like an idiot for not making it even more obvious that he was not to be messed with, unless she was a part of that.

It felt like five years ago, again, to the half-oriental girl when she knocked them off their feet swiftly, quickly drawing the attention of their old trainee squad and some of the higher ups. Defending him from bullies was second nature to her.

"Mi-Mikasa! I'm alright, that's enough!" Armin peeped. Yes, he probably could have protected himself or used some form of blackmail on the pair of not-so-friend cadets, but she wouldn't have been able to stand for that (she won't admit it out loud but she has a terrible, terrible hero complex).

"Ackerman, don't you dare leave without cleaning this mess up." Levi's voice broke through the mutters of the crowd. "Brat, if you leave, you're cleaning up the halls for two weeks."

"Let's go." She gave the two men a glare and ignored the Corporal, all while pulling her best friend away in the midst of all this.

Once far away from the main crowd, Mikasa examined the blonde, eying a darkening bruise on his wrist from the harassers.

"It's okay, you know I'm used to this," Armin's voice was too light, and she saw through him immediately.

She held onto his hands tightly and looked into his bright eyes, he was obviously a little shaken. "Don't say that," she muttered, "that's not okay."

Mikasa was never the type to communicate emotions or feelings clearly, or very well, for the matter, but years of being together had the two of them knowing exactly what the other meant.

At this point in time, they're all each other have, with their access to Eren severely limited. It wasn't the same for the three of them. Things weren't right without Eren for Mikasa and Armin, but with him gradually moving further and further away, they slowly realized they were more attached to each other than before.

They needed each other to balance out everything going on. She had protected Armin for years, it didn't make him weak, and it didn't make her strong. Mikasa just believed that you should treat the ones closest to you as best as you could, that you should cherish them above all. He had been there for her so long, understanding things that Eren couldn't quite, and she needed that comfort.

The girl knew he felt the same too; despite their relationship beginning through their childhood friend, their connection had gone so much deeper than even before almost instantly, especially in the past few months.

"…Mikasa, please stop rubbing my wrist, it's just a bruise."

But she didn't stop. "If you rub it, it will disappear faster."

After that, he didn't say anything else, and sat there quietly while Mikasa massaged his wrist for at least ten minutes.

xxx

"What? Those fuckers hurt Armin?" were the first words Eren said after she had told him about the incident from last week. She wasn't very surprised, easily calming her hotheaded brother down about the situation by telling him she took care of it.

"Oh, well, that's good. Seems like everything is fine on your side, then."

Mikasa wished she could tell him that she and Armin missed him in an almost desperate way, about this dependency she felt for him was stronger, but it was for a better goal now; dreams of a good life for her, Eren, and Armin. She wished she could tell him that sometimes the pair sleep together because the two felt more alone, much more than before, and that they always talked all night about what they wondered he was up to and if he was doing alright.

It's shameful, feeling down because he seemed perfectly fine, perhaps even happy, moving further and further ahead of them, to a place where they couldn't catch up.

But she wouldn't say any of this.

xxx

As of late, Armin was becoming more and more included in the strategic efforts of the Survey Corps, it was obvious that even outsiders like the new cadets could tell that one day, Armin would be very high up in rank and importance.

Mainly, their time together was considerably less, and loneliness was much more apparent in day to day life for Mikasa, finding herself merely lounging around after training in her quarters, sometimes not bothering to eat dinner without him.

The rooms were different than the ones back when she was a trainee, more personal with only Sasha as her roommate instead of many other girls. Mikasa had little possessions that she kept for sentimentality, so clutter was never a problem.

Two of her most sentimental objects were, first of course, the scarf she received from Eren all those years ago, on the day that changed her life, and another was Armin's favorite novel, one of very few copies left in the walls, as most were destroyed after production of books halted.

She had read it so many times by this point; she could almost bet that she had read it more times than Armin himself had. She thoroughly enjoyed the book, about the "ocean" and the outside life. It gave her the hope she needed.

Two knocks on her door, and without her reply, the door creaked open, "Mikasa, let's go eat."

The corners of her lips tugged up a little, as she laid the beaten-up, hardbound book onto her desk and followed the blonde to the mess hall. For now, it was okay to be a little lonesome if the brief moments such as these, became even more important to her.


End file.
